Fluid flow fields in a pair of quasi-two-dimensional channel models, each of which vacillates chaotically between distinct flow regimes, synchronize if only the small-scale eddy components of the two flows are coupled. The synchronization behavior also governs the relationship between different sectors of the same continuous channel. Where there is no natural boundary to define the sectors, but the sectors are separately forced, the channel can be represented as two coextensive, coupled channel models with different forcing terms. Generalized synchronization of these two systems implies a relationship between the Atlantic and Pacific sectors of the Earth's climate system.

• Received 5 September 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4298